# **AI Context Prompt Extension for Terminal Output Formatting with Heredocs and Piping**

When generating Bash scripts for terminal output, where heredocs are used to create formatted text for terminal utilities such as **charmbracelet/gum** or **charmbracelet/glow**, ensure the following conventions are adhered to:

### 1. **Terminal-Specific Heredoc Handling for Pipe Output**

- **Literal (Quoted) Heredoc (`<<'EOF'`)**:
  - This heredoc syntax **prevents variable expansion** by Bash and **should be used exclusively for output** that is intended to be **literally rendered** by terminal tools like `gum` or `glow`.
  - Variables and other dynamic content, such as `$STATUS` or `$PATH`, use `Indented Tab Standard (<<-EOF) for Terminal Output` below.
  - The output will be passed through the pipeline to utilities like `charmbracelet/gum` or `charmbracelet/glow` for display, but **no Bash substitution** (e.g., variable expansion or command substitution) should occur.

  Example:

  ```bash

  MESSAGE=$(
  cat <<-'EOF'
    # HEADER System Report
  	## SUBHEADER System Report
    Status: {{status}}
    Note: $PATH will not be expanded by Bash here. It will be rendered literally.
  EOF
  )

  # Echo the message variable content and pipe it to glow (should render Markdown properly)
  echo "$MESSAGE" | glow -

  ```

  - This ensures that tools like `gum` will receive the **raw content** without any Bash variable substitution.

### 2. **Indented Tab Standard (`<<-EOF`) for Terminal Output**

- Use `<<-EOF` when outputting **indented content** to terminal tools but where leading **tabs** should be stripped by the shell.
- This is especially useful for ensuring **clean, indented formatting** in the terminal output without the need for excessive formatting in the source code.
- The leading tabs will be removed by Bash, but the rest of the heredoc’s content should be piped into terminal utilities for **direct rendering**.

  Example:

  ```bash
  status="Online"

  # Store heredoc output into a variable and ensure it's a string
  MESSAGE=$(
  cat <<-EOF
    # HEADER System Report
    ## SUBHEADER System Report
    - Status: ${status}
    * This is indented text that will be rendered in the terminal.
  EOF
  )

  # Echo the message variable content and pipe it to glow (should render Markdown properly)
  echo "$MESSAGE" | glow -
  ```

  - This ensures that terminal output remains **visually structured** (indented) while adhering to the need for **literal tab handling** when passed through tools like `glow` or `gum`.

### 3. **Strict DSL Enforcement for Terminal Output**

- **DSL Control**: Since your DSL is responsible for ensuring correctness, it will **strictly enforce heredoc behavior** for terminal-based outputs, maintaining that:
  - **Heredocs with `<<'EOF'`** should always **pass literal, unmodified content** (including variable-like placeholders like `{{status}}`) into tools like `gum` or `glow` without Bash interpreting them.
  - **Heredocs with `<<-EOF`** will be **tab-stripped** by Bash but remain **visually consistent** in output, keeping the layout clean for terminal utilities that interpret and display that content.

### 4. **Clear Division of Logic and Output Rendering**

- The **DSL must isolate dynamic content** (variables, logic, etc.) from the static content being rendered into the terminal. Variables must be passed through to terminal utilities like `gum` or `glow` for **post-processing** and final display, not handled by Bash at runtime.
- This ensures that the script output remains **clean and predictable**, with Bash doing as little as possible beyond piping content to terminal utilities.

### 5. **Summary of Heredoc Types for Terminal Output Formatting**

| Feature                  | Syntax     | Behavior                                                                        | DSL/Parser Impact                                          |
| ------------------------ | ---------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------- |
| **Standard**             | `<<EOF`    | Preserves all whitespace (use for terminal text requiring full formatting).     | **High**: Parser ensures Bash doesn’t alter content.       |
| **Tab-Stripped**         | `<<-EOF`   | Strips leading tabs only, indentation for for the editor, not the terminal      | **Medium**: Parser ensures only tabs are stripped by Bash. |
| **Literal**              | `<<'EOF'`  | Disables variable expansion, passing raw content for terminal tools to process. | **Low**: Parser passes raw content for terminal utilities. |
| **Tab-Stripped Literal** | `<<-'EOF'` | Disables variable expansion, indentation for the editor, not the terminal       | **Low**: Parser passes raw content for terminal utilities. |

### 6. **Terminal Output Alignment**

- **No Bash Variable Expansion**: Ensure that when outputting content to terminal utilities like `gum` or `glow`, **variables** (e.g., `$PATH`, `$STATUS`) **are not expanded by Bash** but are passed to the DSL for **processing or rendering in terminal**.
- **Consistent Indentation**: Use **tabs for indentation** and ensure they are processed correctly by the terminal tools, while leaving spaces strictly for code logic and not for visual formatting in the terminal.

---

This updated extension makes it clear that the focus is on managing the output formatting specifically for terminal utilities and the pipeline (`charmbracelet/gum`, `charmbracelet/glow`) after heredocs are used. The DSL’s job is to keep the heredocs well-structured, while Bash handles the literal content and tabs—nothing should interfere with the way these tools render the final output.

Let me know if you'd like any more changes or further clarifications!